Martin Jol
Another former Premiership manager in the running for both the Villa and Fulham jobs, is former Spurs boss Martin Jol. The Dutchman received plaudits for some of the attractive football his Tottenham side played during his time there and, in fact, he was approached by Fulham last summer until Ajax blocked their approaches. Jol was linked with a return to the Premiership when he quit Ajax in December, with many expecting him to take the reigns at Newcastle United. That never came to pass but a return to England, most likely at Fulham, looks increasingly likely now.
Rafa Benitez
The former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez also fancies a return to the top flight of English football after losing his job with Inter Milan in December. He still lives on Merseyside after all and would no doubt relish the chance to take over from Gerard Houllier at Villa, just as he did in 2004 at Liverpool. Despite the occasional dodgy decision at Anfield (selling Xabi Alonso, for example), he guided them to two Champions League finals against AC Milan, winning one in 2005, and secured a second place Premiership finish for the Reds in 2009. He is an outside chance in the bookies’ eyes of securing a position at Villa or Fulham, but he is one of the less likely options.
Carlo Ancelotti
Fresh from his extremely harsh firing from Chelsea, Ancelotti and his famous eyebrow spoke of wanting to stay in the Premier League. Ancelotti has an impressive managerial resume in his back pocket and would be a fantastic option to take over at either Villa or Fulham. Ancelotti would prefer to stay in London but I doubt he would see the Fulham job as an attractive prospect (although they do have that Europa League spot which may persuade him). He could be tempted by the Villa job, however.
Martin O’Neill
And finally we come to the man who left the Aston Villa job only 10 months ago. O’Neill recently made it known that he is ready to make a comeback to management following that sudden departure from Villa. Obviously, I’m not going to suggest that he will be returning to his former post at Villa Park (although stranger things have happened in football) but he looks to be the current favourite for the Fulham post. O’Neill is generally seen as one of the best managers around and it would be fantastic for Fulham if they could secure his services.
So with all that considered, who is going where? Well, as I stated at the top of the article, the summer period is becoming just as unpredictable in terms of where managers are going as much as for where players are going, so it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty. Nevertheless, in my uneducated opinion (as I’ve now been faithfully informed I must refer to it as) Mark Hughes is almost certain to get the Aston Villa job. Why else would he have left Fulham so suddenly?
EDIT: With the report that Villa now do not want Mark Hughes as manager (whether this turns out to be true or not is uncertain for the moment), “Sparkie” could live to regret his decision to abruptly leave The Cottagers. If Villa do decide to go another way, I have a feeling that Carlo Ancelotti may well get the nod. Interesting developments indeed…
As for the Fulham job which Hughes vacated, I would say it’s a toss up between Martin O’Neill and Martin Jol as to who gets it. Either would be very welcome at Craven Cottage. However, who would bet against one of the positions going to a manager whom nobody would have imagined? Not me, that’s for sure.
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